Identifying the uses of mobile technology among Library and Information Science undergraduate students

Abstract

Purpose Mobile technology has redefined the way people communicate and interact. In education, the number of academic institutions developing and offering mobile information services is growing steadily. The purpose of this paper is to identify the use of mobile technology by the Library Science and Information Systems undergraduate students in Greece. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was developed drawing from the relevant literature and sent to undergraduate students studying Library and Information Science during the 2014-2015 academic year. Findings It was found that students employed mobile phones for entertainment purposes whereas laptops and desktop computers for performing education-related tasks. Laptops and desktop computers were again mostly used to access library services, namely the OPAC, reference books, journals. Research limitations/implications Academic institutions need to offer services and adopt online learning platforms supported in mobile devices. Students from other disciplines and their acceptance of mobile technology should be explored. Originality/value This study identifies the specific mobile devices that students use to perform a variety of activities, educational and social, as well as the reasons for doing so.

Factors impacting library-related uses of mobile phones by students in public universities in Malawi

“…However, usage of smartphones for reading journal articles, e-books, as well as searching the library catalogue was minimal. These findings reflected those obtained in a study by Vassilakaki, Moniarou-Papaconstantinou and Garoufallou (2016) in Greece in that they show that, as much as respondents were prepared to use their smartphones for academic and library-related activities, such usage was much lower when compared to that of other technological devices such as laptops. Respondents in the study by Lo et al (2016) indicated that the difficulty of browsing information on smartphones due to the design of the websites and applications made it problematic for them to utilise their smartphones for this purpose.…”

“…Other studies have pointed to technological characteristics associated with mobile phones such as the small screen size, slow internet speed and cost of accessing services as factors militating against access to library services offered through mobile phones (Luo 2014, De Wee 2013. Nevertheless, the small screen size of most mobile phones, slow internet speed and cost, among others, seem not to have affected university students' use of mobile phone for social or communication purposes (Lo et al 2016, Vassilakaki, Moniarou-Papaconstantinou & Garoufallou 2016. Thus, other challenges beyond what is stated in the literature exist that affect usage of mobile phones for accessing library services.…”

“…A study conducted by Luo (2014) at San Jose State University revealed that some of the respondents to the study did not access the SMS library service because they did not have a texting plan on their mobile phone contracts. Although cost has been identified as a factor in access to library services through mobile phones, trends of mobile phone usage as seen in studies by Lo et al (2016) and Vassilakaki, Moniarou-Papaconstantinou and Garoufallou (2016) show that students still used their mobile phones to access social media and to communicate with their friends and relations using emails, SMS and chats. It is therefore possible that students are prepared to pay for services they value, and access to library services is not one of the services on which students consider it worth spending their financial resources.…”

“…Much as this is the case, usage of the services ranks lower when compared to other services that students access using their mobile phones, including communicating with friends and family through calls, text, SMS, or email; connecting to social media tools such as Facebook; and playing games (Lo et al 2016, Vassilakaki, Moniarou-Papaconstantinou & Garoufallou 2016. Other studies have pointed to technological characteristics associated with mobile phones such as the small screen size, slow internet speed and cost of accessing services as factors militating against access to library services offered through mobile phones (Luo 2014, De Wee 2013.…”

“…Vassilakaki, Moniarou-Papaconstantinou and Garoufallou (2016) conducted an online survey to investigate uses of mobile technology (laptop, desktop computer and mobile phone) among Library and Information Science undergraduate students in Greece. The study, which sampled 336 students and drew a response rate of 78.6%, revealed that students' choice of which device to use depended on the task at hand.…”